Angels
(Finished) DISCLAIMER: This article contributes to the original character project Olivia. Much information in here is adopted from the Shadowhunters Wikia. Elements from actual sources like those will be shown in the reference list below. Most parts of myths or a religious context, others are general fictional explanations from information I collected and invented myself at the same time. Also, do not feel offended or butt hurt by whatever comes up as you voluntarily chose to read this in the first place! ' ''"Angels are soldiers, protectors and healers. May the divine be with them!" See also: Olivia '''Biblical Description Angels are Holy Spirits that have come along the duration of the existence of the light universes. According to time, Angels are one of the oldest spirits around, right before Demons. The Bible claims that Angels are created beings by God his hand to glorify and praise him. And the Bible also says that Angels came before the very existence of Earth and light have had an important role by its creation. At last, it would say they live in Heaven with God. There are lots of them! Jesus describes being able to call on 144,000 Angels and twice over 100 million Angels are described as worshiping God in heaven. A legion in the Roman army was made up of 12,000 soldiers. So being able to call on 12 legions of Angels meant a lot! Ten thousand times ten thousand equals 100 million, but also in the Greek language, at the time these verses were written, ten thousand was the largest number you could have. So ten thousand times ten thousand was a number so big that you couldn't really imagine it! Angels are 'spirit' beings and don't have bodies as we think of them. They also seem to be a higher level of creation than man (on earth). Angels are also described as being like winds and fire. In fact, both the Hebrew and Greek words for 'spirit' can also mean 'breath' or 'wind. But this doesn't mean that they are 'wishy washy floaty' things! They have thoughts, intelligence (they can speak God's heavenly language as well as the languages of earth) and emotions. Angels don't die, marry or pro-create so, they were probably all created at the same time. God's Angels also know their rightful place, as created beings of God. They exist to worship and serve God – not be worshiped themselves. Angels do have free will to make their own choices. Towards the beginning of creation, one of the highest ranking Angels, Lucifer – also now known as Satan or 'The Devil' rebelled against God and decided he wanted God's power. There was a great battle and Lucifer and his followers (about a third of all the Angels)lost, were punished and thrown out of heaven. They now work against God and his holy Angels to try and stop people knowing God.Angels (and the 'fallen' Angels) are not normally 'visible' to our eyes. It may be that they can choose to reveal themselves to us (or when God allows us to see them). Having said that, Angels, if allowed by God, can also appear as 'normal' men, as described in the Bible when Abraham and his nephew Lot were visited by 'men'. General Description and abilities Angels are winged celestial beings who serve as messengers of God, guardians of his creations, and soldiers in his eternal war against the denizens of Hell. Among mortals and Downworlders, little is known about Angels and much is conjectured; few who might speak knowledgeably live to do so. Mortals see them as great heroes and protectors, having left them a thousand years ago with their heavenly endorsement, basic support, and enough strength to fight for themselves. Mortals of who nephilim that chose to help fight against the Underworld. The blood of the Holy runs in the veins of every new born Angel, flowing through the transformative properties of the Mortal Cup. Angels may be absent patrons, but the people regard them as their spiritual guides, and they recognize them with their prayers, their invocations, and in the names of their most holy weapons and relics. The general consensus is that the physical forms of Angels are shaped like humans, but are much larger, winged, and glow with heavenly fire, however, many authors have suggested that when Angels do manifest on Earth, they take whatever shape witnesses will recognize as Angelic. As immortal beings of pure spirit, Angels must take on a corporeal form to exist on Earth, just like Demons do. So far, they have been witnessed as luminous beings of great stature; beautiful, ethereal, nude, and speaking with an otherworldly voice and famous languages of Latin and Enochian. They possess superhuman strength beyond that of a Downworlder, another Aboveworlder, mortals, or lesser Demon, sufficient to hurl whole hoards of Demons into outer space from the surface of the Earth. Angels of high rank, such as Raziel, are supposedly strong enough to defeat the higher Greater Demons, such as the Princes of Hell. Supposedly, Angels possess the abilities as those of Marked Holy beings, though at a much greater degree. Also, much like with faeries and some old Warlocks, time flows or is perceived differently by Angels compared to humans. Fallen Angels Fallen Angels are Angels who have been cast out of Heaven for their rebellion. It is often believed that most fallen Angels are those who sided with Lucifer when he made his war against God. After they were cast into Hell and the Void, they took on monstrous corporeal forms and later became known as Greater Demons, led by the Princes of Hell. These now Demonic fallen Angels created lesser, common Demons as well as the chaotic ethereal force that animates them and gives them their powers. Fact: Faeries are, according to legends, Angels cast down out of Heaven for their pride. Another legend says that Angels and Demons' off-springs are these faeries. Summoning It is considered unwise to attempt to summon an Angel for several reasons. Summoning an Angel is considered by many as futile and a waste of time, since Angels do not respond to summons in the same way that Demons do. They cannot maintain their corporeal form on Earth for long, any more than other non-Demon creatures can in a dimension not their own. Additionally, the summoning rituals that claim to bring Angels are obscure, difficult, and unreliable; they have been accomplished so rarely that there is not much evidence for what does and does not work. Along with these factors, the danger and risk of disaster, injury, or death from a misunderstood or misapplied summoning ritual is very high. It is even forbidden for some Angels to be summoned unless through the proper methods and in the proper time, like Raziel, who could be summoned, though infrequently, with the Mortal Instruments. Even if the summoning was successful, there is currently no known way to oblige an Angel to cooperate with the desires or needs of the summoner. An Angel cannot be bound in the way that a Demon is bound, except by the application of forbidden and blasphemous rituals, such as the circle of Marks that Shadow Demons used to bind Ithuriel and attempted to compel Raziel with, the performance of which are among the worst violations of the Law that a person could commit. Finally, if a summoning is successful, the summoner and any of his/her assistants risk quick death at the hands of the summoned Angel because, unlike Demons, Angels do not want to be on Earth; they do not like manifesting into corporeal form, nor do they like helping humans, and they are not known for their mercy. They are on the whole deeply indifferent to the travails of the mortal realm. They are not merely messengers or guardians, they are the soldiers of God's army and emissaries of his wrath and vengeance, though he wouldn't allow his servants to ever harm anyone, unless the worlds are at danger. In serious cases, even God and Angels are not patient or tolerant of human vicissitudes. Weaknesses Despite their intimidating appearance, some Angels are not all-powerful and can be defeated. Warlocks and Shadow Demons were both able to catch one of them named Ithuriel, the first managed to trap a piece of him in a cursed mirror and the latter was able to bind the Angel in a circle of Marks. Additionally, seraph blades are somehow deadly to Angels, as shown when a Warlock stole a serpah blade and impaled Ithuriel in his leg with it. When Angels make promises, they are tied to it and its conditions, meaning they will not be allowed to break it. History Other than the fact that they were created by God, their early history remains unknown. It is known that they are as old, or possibly older, than the universe and Earths themselves. Much has been done in their name, both good and evil, even though the number of confirmed manifestations of angels on Earth in the entire history of the Demons can be counted on one hand. Raziel's Summoning Some time in 1000 AD, several Demons for the first time invaded mortal worlds. At one point, the Angels tried their best to fight them off and send them back to the Void. Brought to a lake to drown, the Angels used what little breath they had to ask a blessing on the lake, to sanctify it as a place where things of darkness, such as Demons, would not ever be welcome. They prayed and their prayers were answered by a message of God. Raziel rose from Lake Lyn, bearing with him the Mortal Instruments. The Angels asked him to save their comrades and the people on the affected Earths. Introducing himself as an angel of God, Raziel heeded their prayers and lifted them from the lake and placed them on the shore and spewed fire upon the very flesh of the invading Demons. Seeing that the Angels their intent was good and true, he gave them the Mortal Instruments for them to start the project of gifting the Nephilim, one of the mortals who needed God's help too and allowed them all to fight back. Known Angels Nephilim and some other gifted people such as prophets are required to know the names of the Angels. One reason is because they are of their blood, so they learn their names out of respect. Another reason is because they help in the name of God and actually make a change and great influence upon mankind. The weapons of which serpah blades that were send from Heaven to the Nephilim were not just infused with the generic heavenly fire of adamas, but with some of the spirit of the angel named. Nephilim rarely name their seraph blades after the most famous and powerful of angels due to the fear that such angelic power might overwhelm and destroy the wielder of such a weapon. Angels of which Gabriel, Anael, Ithuriel, Moroni, etc... References # What Are Angels # Angels Shadowhunters Wikia Category:Mythology Category:Story Category:Angels Category:Magical Category:Fantasy Category:Biblical Category:Religious Category:Species